Broads You Should Know

Frances Farmer — The Actress Who Forged Her Dreams and Lost Her Mind

Frances Farmer first began making waves as a senior at West Seattle High when her prize-winning essay pissed off a whole bunch of people. Franny knew then and there that she was different and destined for something bigger and she jumped into action to forge ahead with her dream: to be an actress on Broadway.

Her rise to fame was absolutely meteoric as she stunned audiences from her small local stage productions, to the studio executives at Paramount, to the silver screen audiences and finally to the bright lights of Broadway. She was unstoppable and incredible.

But the high pressure of such Hollywood celebrity status, including the intense studio demands and horrific gossip columnists, combined with unfortunate personal events sends Franny into a tailspin and in the 1940's and 50's there was little protection for a woman who needed help.

Franny's story is a wild one filled with incredible feats, heartbreaking loss of love, self and freedom, and infuriating acts committed against Franny's will. Her story is not to be missed. Listen now to hear it all!

—

A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode on social
3. Tell a friend!

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

—

Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye

Anne Heche — The Crazy, Brilliant Actress

Anne Heche dazzled the screen in almost every role she ever played, and earlier this year her shining light was snuffed out in terrible, unexplained tragedy. However, much of her public life was scorned by the press and she was called - and even called herself - "crazy". How did this moniker come to be for one of the most brave and brilliant Hollywood talents we've ever seen?

Her autobiographer is impossible to find for less than a fortune following her untimely death, but you can hear more about her terrible, tragic, and yet also hopeful tale. Listen now to hear her true story.

—

A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode on social
3. Tell a friend!

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

—

Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye

Broadly Speaking #13: The Spectacular Broads of 2022

Sara and Chloe reunite once more to take a look through the spectacular Broads of 2022!

This action-packed episode covers not only the top 10 most-listened to episodes of 2022, our personal favorite Broads on the pod and IRL, and our big milestone this year, but we also dive into our favorite feminist pop culture entries this year, the worst the patriarchal and colonial drivel, and of course a toast to those fabulous Broads that we lost in 2022. It's the wrap-up show you don't want to miss! 

—

A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode on social
3. Tell a friend!

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

—

Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye

ReBROADcast: Yoko Ono — Avant-Garde Artist & Activist for Peace Who Definitively Did Not Break Up the Beatles [with Sam Eggers]

This week, Sam researched Yoko Ono, and finally answers the question of whether she broke up the Beatles (spoilers: she didn't!).

Yoko Ono's life was rarely easy. She was in Tokyo during the bombing of Japan in WWII, and her family was forced to beg for food. She later lost a daughter and husband to a Christian Japanese Cult. John Lennon was killed in front of her. And on top of all of that, she was vilified in the press. Despite everything, she's managed to continue creating artwork and contributing to charitable causes, usually pushing for global peacekeeping efforts. She's performed her unique brand of avant-garde around the globe, including at Carnegie Hall, doing shows in both English and Japanese.

Check out the full episode to learn more about why Yoko Ono is a Broad You Should Know!

—

A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode on social
3. Tell a friend!

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

—

Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye

Hannah Chaplin - Charlie Chaplin’s Brilliantly Talented Mother

You've surely heard of Charlie Chaplin, but did you know he inherited his talent from his brilliant mother Hannah Chaplin? Okay, his dad was a talented performer too, but it was Hannah that nurtured Charlie's skill from his youngest days - performing skits and songs and stories for him and his brother and bringing them along with her while she worked.

Why then, are all the history books filled with nothing but "Hannah Chaplin was crazy" language? The answer is complicated and Hannah's story is quite sad, but she is certainly a Broad You Should Know, so listen now to hear the tragic tale of the woman that birthed one of the greatest creatives the entertainment industry has ever seen.

—

A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode on social
3. Tell a friend!

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

—

Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye

Mary Todd Lincoln - ”The Least Liked First Lady of the United States of America”

Mary Todd Lincoln likely exists in your mind as merely "the wife of President Lincoln", but her story is so much richer, and packed full with a stunning amount of patriarchal injustice.

From her youth as a wealthy socialite, to the first lady spotlight, then a torrent of grievous tragedies which ultimately leads to her own son arranging a trial of "insanity", Mary's story is one wild ride. Listen now her the whole of it and decide for yourself whether you think that trial was necessary.

—

A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode on social
3. Tell a friend!

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

—

Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye

Margery Kempe - Medieval Mystic and Inventor of ”Chaste Marriage”

Margery was one of the more mysterious and unknown mystics of the medieval times until 1934, when her manuscript entitled The Book of Margery Kempe was discovered. Her book blew the door off the hinges, instantly becoming not only one of the most important historical documentations of what life for a woman at the turn of the 15th century was like, but also becoming the first autobiography published in the English language as well as likely the first recorded account of serious mental illness.

For a woman who never joined a nunnery, Margery stood toe to toe with the other aesthetic mystics of the period, she challenged the Catholic Orthodox Church, and she faced heresy accusations left and right. Her story is both unusual and intriguing. Listen now to hear it all!

—

A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode on social
3. Tell a friend!

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

IG: @SaraGorsky

Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com

—

Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye

ReBROADcast: Sacagawea — Navigator, translator, & mother during Lewis & Clark expedition

As we wrap up our revisit of some of our previously-aired Indigenous Broads, today we bring you Sam's deep dive on Sacagawea. While she's best known as the navigator during Lewis & Clark's expedition of the Louisiana Purchase, the truth is a bit more complicated than that. As a young girl Sacagawea was kidnapped and sold into slavery by a neighboring tribe, and was eventually sold to her now-husband, whom brought on the expedition. She played the role of navigator at some points during the journey, but she also had never been to most of the land they were exploring and had never seen the ocean. Her primary role on the expedition was actually as a translator and a beacon of peace to the other Indigenous tribes they encountered along the way.

Listen now for the full story of Sacagawea and the truth about these "brave explorers" of North America.

ReBROADcast: Queen Ka’ahumanu — First Queen of Hawaii Responsible for Women’s Rights and Uniting the Islands

Continuing our revisit of some of our previously-aired Indigenous Broads, today we revisit Jupiter's episode about Hawaii's Queen Ka'ahumanu.

Queen Ka'ahumanu is one of the lesser-known Queens of Hawaii, but without her strategy, know-how, & willingness to break Kapu (holy Hawaiian law), the Kingdom as we know it may never have happened at all. She's a controversial figure to many, but her influence is undeniable.

—

A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

See all our Broads at www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com.

—

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode on social
3. Tell a friend!

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky (IG: @SaraGorsky)

Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye

ReBROADcast: Suzan Harjo — Native American Activist Known For Repatriation & Anti-Racism Lawsuits Against USA [with Chloe Skye]

Continuing our revisit of some of our previously-aired Indigenous American Broads, today we bring back Chloe Skye's episode on one of the most prominent warriors in the fight to take down racially harmful mascots - Suzan Shown Harjo!

In high school, Suzan learned about 3,000 racist sports mascots across the US, and a few years later, she started a foundation dedicated to eradicating those mascots. She was the primary plantiff on the lawsuit to change the name of the Washington R*dsk*ns (back in 1992!).

When she went to a museum with her mother and discovered that their own property was on display in one of the exhibits, Suzan dedicated part of her life to repatriation lawsuits to get Native American artifacts out of museums and back to their rightful place.

Her list of accomplishments is long, each one greater than the last. You'll have to listen to the episode to hear them all!

—

A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

See all our Broads at www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com.

—

3 Ways you can help support the podcast:

1. Write a review on Apple Podcasts
2. Share your favorite episode on social
3. Tell a friend!

—

Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky (IG: @SaraGorsky)

Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye